Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Jan 22, 2026

Shocked patient charged $40 ‘for crying’ during doctor’s appointment

Shocked patient charged $40 ‘for crying’ during doctor’s appointment

A photo of the bill went viral with more than 54,000 retweets and 425,000 likes, plus thousands of comments from people expressing their shock.

Talk about sticker shock.

A New York woman recently shared that her sister was reportedly charged $40 “for crying” at a doctor’s appointment.

Camille Johnson, 25, a popular YouTube and internet personality, shared a photo of her younger sibling’s medical bill.

“My little sister has been really struggling with a health condition lately and finally got to see a doctor. They charged her $40 for crying,” she captioned the photo in a tweet.

The image highlighted a segment of the bill that docked her sis for a “BRIEF EMOTIONAL/BEHAV ASSMT.”

In the Twitter thread, she explained that her sister has a “rare disease” and “got emotional because she feels frustrated and helpless,” as she’s reportedly struggled to find care.

“One tear in and they charged her $40 without addressing why she is crying, trying to help, doing any evaluation, any prescription, nothing,” she wrote.

The photo went viral with more than 54,000 retweets and 425,000 likes, plus thousands of comments from people expressing their shock.

A woman sparked an online conversation about US medical costs after sharing a photo of a bill that she said included a charge “for crying.”


In the thread, Johnson also noted that the “assessment” cost more than a vision test, hemoglobin test, a health risk assessment and a capillary blood draw.

A brief emotional/behavioral assessment is a mental health screening that tests for signs of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, suicidal risk or substance abuse. It is usually issued as a questionnaire that is often handed out and filled in before seeing the doctor.

Doctors have been testing and charging for the test since 2015 when it became a federal mandate as part of the Affordable Care Act “to include mental health services as part of the essential benefits that must be included in all insurance plans offered in individual and small group markets.”

However, Johnson told The Independent that her sister was never evaluated. She claimed that the doctor at the unnamed medical facility noticed her sister’s tears but said nothing.

“They did not evaluate her for depression or other mental illnesses, nor did they discuss her mental health with her,” Johnson said. “She never talked to a specialist, was not referred to anyone, not prescribed anything, and they did nothing to assist with her mental health.”

And while Johnson’s sister is reportedly covered by their father’s medical insurance, the family is still in shock.

“We need a drastic change in the healthcare industry, and I thought that sharing a real-life story online would be a good way to open up the conversation and help advocate for change,” she said. “I really hope this tweet can incite improvement in our healthcare system as well as be a warning for the future.”


The viral post sparked a conversation about the confusing and high prices of medical care in the United States.

Twitter user Lauren Cugliotta replied to Johnson’s post with a photo of her own medical bill showing when she was charged nearly $2,000 for “Women’s services” — which she said doctors explained was the cost of a pregnancy test.

She captioned the photo: “$1,902 to pee and for them to dip a stick into it.”

Another woman who claimed to be a nurse commented that her daughter was charged $44 for “skin to skin contact” after giving birth.

“In other words when they flopped my grandson up onto her chest after the umbilical cord was cut. I guess the cheaper alternative was letting him fall on the floor?” they tweeted.

One Twitter user claimed that they were charged $250 after a gastrointestinal specialist simply popped into their room to say hello.

“One time, when I didn’t have insurance, I landed in the hospital because of my Crohn’s disease. Hospital doc said GI specialist making rounds would stop in to introduce himself before I was discharged. GI doc said hello, gave me a business card and said I should call for an appointment. Later sent me a bill for $250. I put his business card in an envelope with the bill and a note that said I only know one profession that charges for social calls, and he wasn’t that much fun. Never heard from them again,” they shared.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that half of American adults said they put off or skipped some sort of health or dental care in the past year because of the cost.

As for Johnson’s debacle, many users were astounded by the steep, sometimes unclear or obscure medical charges faced stateside.

“Tell me you live in America without telling me that you live in America,” one tweeter summed up the majority’s frustration.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Prince William to Make Official Visit to Saudi Arabia in February
Prince Harry Breaks Down in London Court, Says UK Tabloids Have Made Meghan Markle’s Life ‘Absolute Misery’
Malin + Goetz UK Business Enters Administration, All Stores Close
EU and UK Reject Trump’s Greenland-Linked Tariff Threats and Pledge Unified Response
UK Deepfake Crackdown Puts Intense Pressure on Musk’s Grok AI After Surge in Non-Consensual Explicit Images
Prince Harry Becomes Emotional in London Court, Invokes Memory of Princess Diana in Testimony Against UK Tabloids
UK Inflation Rises Unexpectedly but Interest Rate Cuts Still Seen as Likely
Starmer Steps Back from Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Amid Strained US–UK Relations
Prince Harry’s Lawyer Tells UK Court Daily Mail Was Complicit in Unlawful Privacy Invasions
UK Government Approves China’s ‘Mega Embassy’ in London Amid Debate Over Security and Diplomacy
Trump Cites UK’s Chagos Islands Sovereignty Shift as Justification for Pursuing Greenland Acquisition
UK Government Weighs Australia-Style Social Media Ban for Under-Sixteens Amid Rising Concern Over Online Harm
Trump Aides Say U.S. Has Discussed Offering Asylum to British Jews Amid Growing Antisemitism Concerns
UK Seeks Diplomatic De-escalation with Trump Over Greenland Tariff Threat
Prince Harry Returns to London as High Court Trial Begins Over Alleged Illegal Tabloid Snooping
High-Speed Train Collision in Southern Spain Kills at Least Twenty-One and Injures Scores
Meghan Markle May Return to the U.K. This Summer as Security Review Advances
Trump’s Greenland Tariff Threat Sparks EU Response and Risks Deep Transatlantic Rift
Prince Harry’s High Court Battle With Daily Mail Publisher Begins in London
Trump’s Tariff Escalation Presents Complex Challenges for the UK Economy
UK Prime Minister Starmer Rebukes Trump’s Greenland Tariff Strategy as Transatlantic Tensions Rise
Prince Harry’s Last Press Case in UK Court Signals Potential Turning Point in Media and Royal Relations
OpenAI to Begin Advertising in ChatGPT in Strategic Shift to New Revenue Model
GDP Growth Remains the Most Telling Barometer of Britain’s Economic Health
Prince William and Kate Middleton Stay Away as Prince Harry Visits London Amid Lingering Rift
Britain Braces for Colder Weather and Snow Risk as Temperatures Set to Plunge
Mass Protests Erupt as UK Nears Decision on China’s ‘Mega Embassy’ in London
Prince Harry to Return to UK to Testify in High-Profile Media Trial Against Associated Newspapers
Keir Starmer Rejects Trump’s Greenland Tariff Threat as ‘Completely Wrong’
Trump to hit Europe with 10% tariffs until Greenland deal is agreed
Prince Harry Returns to UK High Court as Final Privacy Trial Against Daily Mail Publisher Begins
Britain Confronts a Billion-Pound Wind Energy Paradox Amid Grid Constraints
The graduate 'jobpocalypse': Entry-level jobs are not shrinking. They are disappearing.
Cybercrime, Inc.: When Crime Becomes an Economy. How the World Accidentally Built a Twenty-Trillion-Dollar Criminal Economy
The Return of the Hands: Why the AI Age Is Rewriting the Meaning of “Real Work”
UK PM Kier Scammer Ridicules Tories With "Kamasutra"
Strategic Restraint, Credible Force, and the Discipline of Power
United Kingdom and Norway Endorse NATO’s ‘Arctic Sentry’ Mission Including Greenland
Woman Claiming to Be Freddie Mercury’s Secret Daughter Dies at Forty-Eight After Rare Cancer Battle
UK Launches First-Ever ‘Town of Culture’ Competition to Celebrate Local Stories and Boost Communities
Planned Sale of Shell and Exxon’s UK Gas Assets to Viaro Energy Collapses Amid Regulatory and Market Hurdles
UK Intensifies Arctic Security Engagement as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Fuels Allied Concern
Meghan Markle Could Return to the UK for the First Time in Nearly Four Years If Security Is Secured
Meghan Markle Likely to Return to UK Only if Harry Secures Official Security Cover
UAE Restricts Funding for Emiratis to Study in UK Amid Fears Over Muslim Brotherhood Influence
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks to Safeguard Long-Term Agreement Stability
Starmer’s Push to Rally Support for Action Against Elon Musk’s X Faces Setback as Canada Shuns Ban
UK Free School Meals Expansion Faces Political and Budgetary Delays
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks With Britain
Germany Hit by Major Airport Strikes Disrupting European Travel
×